Making sense of the world

Our vision is to lift these to a new level of relevance and usefulness. We do this to help people make sense of the world, their decisions, and decisions of others.

We are rigorous, relevant and useful.

Data analytics, forecasting and modelling

We love taking our quantitative tools to data to give you new insights about your business or sector, and help you understand the impacts and trade-offs of policy and business decision choices.

Our toolkit and experience span nitty-gritty modelling of specific projects, statistical evaluation of policies and regulations, and forecasting of social economic and demographic trends.

Testing models and modelling processes is our bread and butter. We kick the tyres on the logic, data and analytical frameworks for government agencies and businesses, to give our customers extra confidence and help them improve.

Business case and cost benefit analysis

Having great ideas is a necessary but not sufficient first step to success. We give you assurance on whether you should act on these ideas, using ‘return on investment’ type tests.

Cost benefit analysis is a systematic and rigorous way to apply data and evidence to your options, so you can decide which one to back.

Our experience spans areas as diverse as evaluating environmental policies, investing in tertiary education facilities, and changing building standards. These studies almost always involve comparing reasonably easy-to-identify costs with hard-to-value societal benefits. We have the techniques to help you with that.

Public policy

Ever-changing technology, population, environment and economic circumstances mean that public policy can never stand still. We provide expert insights on the impact of mega trends on your sector or industry and how to respond to them. We are alert to unintended consequences and other risks.

As with all our work, we take your challenge and apply logic, data and evidence to see what can make a real difference. This is what makes us tick. We drill down to the root cause, see if there is a market or regulatory failure, and then evaluate the full spectrum of solutions.

Examples of our work include:

housing - home ownership and the rental accommodation market

economic modelling of long term aged residential care market requirements

long term fiscal sustainability

alternative approaches to ensuring sufficient land supply in urban settings

the efficiency of local environmental regulatory frameworks

Regulatory affairs

Many markets in New Zealand are subject to rules and arrangements to make these markets work better for consumers. Examples include electricity, telecommunications, dairy, and environmental services.

Businesses often need assistance with understanding how government proposals may impact on them, or with identifying sound solutions to market or regulatory failure. This is where we come in.

Market and macro economics

We offer strong expertise in market and macroeconomics. We regularly provide independent commentary that takes the story of the day and places it squarely in the big picture policy context.